Few films in recent years have felt as bleak and emotionally punishing as The Girl with the Needle, Magnus von Horn’s harrowing retelling of the story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye. Told through a perspective of overwhelming despair, the movie follows Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne, delivering one of the best performances of 2024), a woman struggling to survive in early 20th-century Copenhagen. Evicted from her apartment and left in limbo after her husband Peter is presumed dead in the war—but without official confirmation, meaning she can’t collect widow’s compensation—Karoline is desperate for stability. She finds work as a seamstress but is let go due to layoffs, worsened by her contentious relationship with her employer Jørgen, whose mother disapproves of their involvement.
Faced with financial hardship and an uncertain future, Karoline cannot imagine keeping the child she is soon to give birth to. A traumatic and gut-wrenching sequence involving an attempted abortion leads her to a chance encounter with Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm) at a bathhouse. Dagmar, seemingly warm and well-intentioned, encourages Karoline to bring her newborn to her sweet shop, where she runs an underground adoption agency that promises to place unwanted children into loving homes. For a brief moment, Dagmar’s offer appears to be a lifeline—an escape from Karoline’s crushing circumstances.
But as anyone familiar with the real-life story of Dagmar Overbye knows, that hope is an illusion. As Karoline discovers the horrifying truth behind the agency, the film takes a turn into truly harrowing territory, delivering some of the most gut-wrenching sequences in recent memory. Von Horn crafts this descent with remarkable precision, using stark black-and-white cinematography to strip away any sense of warmth or comfort. Every frame is suffused with dread, the lack of color mirroring Karoline’s eroding sense of security as she’s drawn deeper into a nightmare she never saw coming.
The Girl with the Needle is not a film I plan on revisiting anytime soon, and that in itself is a testament to its power. From its devastating opening moments to its suffocating final act, the film tightens its grip with unrelenting intensity, refusing to offer easy catharsis. It’s a brutal but masterfully executed experience—one that lingers long after the credits roll, leaving you desperate to escape its grasp.
Rating: 7/10
The Girl with the Needle (2024)
- Cast: Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri
- Director: Magnus von Horn
- Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
- Runtime: 123 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: December 6, 2024